Whirlwind's Adventure
by TheTransfiguredCanary
Summary: A Rewrite of Steven Universe with MLP characters Whirlwind struggles with the destiny his mother left behind for him while trying to juggle in a bit of growing up and having fun. All the while darkness rests at the edge of the next day, waiting for the perfect moment to strike...
1. Chapter 1: Of Gems and Ponies

The ponies of Ponyville never gave much thought to the fence that blocked the road through Everfree Forest. There were tales of monsters in the woods. It seemed practical. That and it was just a feature that had been in the town for so long that no one even remembered who put it up. But, like all fences, it attracted teens.

* * *

"Come on Rifftide! Just hop over the fence and see what's there!" a blue-coated pegasus named Cloudkicker cried with a smirk.

"Yeah Riff don't be a dweeb!" a dark green coated unicorn named Poison Oak smirked. The blue pegasus raised his shoulders nervously.

"I dunno guys…" Rifftide said quietly.

"Come one man!" Cloudkicker cried.

"Yeah!" the mare cried.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" the pair chanted.

"Alright!" Rifftide cried, "I'm going!" he rose into the air and flew over the fence and started walking towards the woods. As he broke through the tree's he stared. There was a tree that appeared to glow, carved with strange symbols and runes. "Neat…" he said quietly. Suddenly he was struck on the head. He came too a few minutes later. A purple unicorn with a long curly mane was talking to a pink pegasus with a strange long shaggy mane.

"He went over the fence! I had to do something!" a light blue earth pony with a poofy mane cried. a pink mare with a dark pink stripy mane stepped forward.

"Knocking people out doesn't fix things." the mare cried. She looked down into Riff's eyes and smiled. "Hello… are you alright?" Riff stared up at the mare in awe and smiled.

"I uh… yeah… hey I'm sorry for coming in here without asking…" he said with an apologetic grin. The purple unicorn gave a haughty flip of her mane with a huff.

"I should think! Don't worry Magic, I'll escort him out." The unicorn said before she conjured a blade shaped vaguely like a needle. Rifftide gulped and shrunk a bit.

"No… it's fine Generosity." the pink mare said with a smile. "He's just a pony. I'll escort him"

"What? But he! And I! Magic!" the unicorn cried.

"Come on Generosity." the pink pegasus said almost dragging the unicorn towards the tree. Riff watched this then turned back to the mare beside him.

"But… aren't you ponies?" he asked with a confused frown. The mare smiled.

"We're much more than we appear." she said. Riff stared at her even more confused then he blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"Do you maybe want to get a burger or a box of cupcakes some time?" Riff asked. The mare sighed.

"Look… you're very cute… but… we just wouldn't work…" she shook her head and turned back the way she came. "The path back is through those bushes." she said quietly. With the light of her horn all the branches moved out of the way. He stared after her until the branches moved back into position. After that he walked through the bushes.

"Hey Riff! You were gone for forever! What was back there?" Poison Oak asked.

"I… I think it was an angel." Riff said still staring at the woods.

"Are you okay man?"Cloudkicker asked with a raised eyebrow.

"yeah... " Riff said quietly.

"Well then come on man!" Cloudkicker said before he and Poison Oak walked off.

"Magic…" Rifftide muttered.

"COME ON MAN!" Poison Oak cried. Riff shook his head with a start and galloped away from the fence.

* * *

A small gray pegasus colt was snoring loudly in a cot when suddenly the ground started to rumble and he was tossed out of his bed.

"Wha…" he said rubbing his eye tiredly and slowly flying down the stairs. His eye flew open in fright as he saw the giant balls with wings and angry eyes. "ACK!" he cried as one took a huge bite out of his sofa and coffee table.

"Oh dang. We just bought a new one last week…" Courage said resigned before turning with a ferocious war cry to strike one of the bugs with her lightning spear.

"Oh goodness, frightfully sorry to wake you Whirly! We wanted to get rid of these parasprites before you woke up." Generosity said as she stabbed the offending bug. After this she gasped. "Those drapes are vintage! Get back here you vermin!" Generosity cried before she shooed the bug away. "Get back! Nothing touches my drapes!" she began to widely wave her needle sword back and forth.

"Can I help?" Whirlwind asked now wide awake and ready.

"Its best you stay back Whirly" Courage said apologetically as she ripped the wings off on one parasprite.

"Yeah. We don't want you to get-" Laughter began when suddenly she was consumed. Whirlwind stared in horror but Generosity and Courage looked only for a moment before going back to what they were doing. Whirlwind stared at the too furious when suddenly the offending bug swelled up and looked as if it was to throw up. Finally it exploded into a puff of smoke and there was Laughter with her cannon with not a care in the world. She hopped out of her cloud crater and started firing more rounds. Eventually the bugs were all gone.

"I just don't know where they showed up from." Generosity said with a sigh as she examined the damage. "This place is a mess…" she said as she picked up and puffed up a pillow with her magic.

"It looks fine." Laughter said before she jumped onto the half eaten couch.

"Yes well some of us have standards before we go flopping down onto things." Generosity said with an upturn of her nose. Courage landed beside the couch.

"It will have to do before we can buy another one and from Quills and Sofas." she said with a sigh.

"I win!" Laughter said with a grin. Generosity huffed and flipped her mane then walked over to the kitchen and began looking through the cupboards.

"Where… LAUGHTER!" Generosity suddenly shrieked pulling out an empty pastry box with the Sugarcube Corner logo on it that has several bites taken out of it "You ate them all?!"

"They were just sitting there! I couldn't help myself!" Laughter cried.

"UUURRRGHHH!" Generosity growled before throwing the box in a trash. Whirly hopped up onto one of the island stools.

"Why did you have a box of cupcakes?"

"Oh, Sugar Plum called us to take care of a problem. They had wither vines in their pipes again. I keep telling them that is they sprinkle powdered Poison Joke down the pipes they'll go away." Generosity shook her head. "Anyways, we got a box of cupcakes that we were saving for you but SOMEONE 'Couldn't help herself'" generosity scoffed then she reached into a jar on the counter with her magic and pulled out a ten-bit note. "Here. go buy yourself some cupcakes Whirly." Whirly's eyes went big and sparkly and he dashed off "NOT TOO MANY!" Generosity called after a few seconds realizing how open she's left that statement. Whirly was already long gone. He whipped up the forest path and through town. He nearly mauled down a mare pushing a carriage

"Oh! Sorry Mrs. Apple Butter!" Whirly looked back where he was heading and skidded to a halt, planting himself a few inches into the ground. The elderly mare he almost bowled over chuckled.

"Where are you heading off to in such a hurry Whirlwind?" the blue unicorn asked.

"Sorry Mrs. Bleu. I'm getting cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner." Whirly said tapping his hooves excitedly. The mare chuckled

"Well don't let me keep you." she said.

"Have a nice day!" Whirly said before he was off again blowing Mrs. Blue's hat clean off. He flew faster and faster through town before he slowed right down and landed gracefully in front of the gingerbread house. He took a deep breath then pushed open the door and sang into the shop. "Whirly's Arrrrrivvveeed!" the mare behind the counter laughed.

"Morning Whirly. You're here early." Whirly saddled up to the corner sighed leaning against it.

"Ah, you know me Candy Star, fighting monsters, saving the world, never a dull moment. "

"Suuuurrre." the male employee said sarcastically as he stepped out of the bakery with a pan of hot muffins.

"Morning Cherry Bomb!" Whirly said with a wide grin. The pegasus rolled his eyes and went back to restocking the shelves without a comment. Candy Star frowned then looked back at whirly.

"so, a dozen of the usual?"

"Nah, only half a dozen, Laughter got eaten this morning and I think she's feeling more down than she's letting on, I was gonna get the everything breakfast special for her." Whirly said as he watched Candy fill a box with six strawberry chocolate swirl cupcakes.

"Well, when you get there remind Waffle Cone about the party tonight okay." Candy Star asked him with a smile.

"I will, thanks, Candy! Bye, Cherry!" whirly said with a wave.

"Yeah, whatever." Cherry Bomb said before Whirly disappeared in a flash. Candy turned to Cherry with an annoyed face. "What?" Whirly arrived at the everything diner just as gracefully as the Sugarcube Corner. When he opened the dinner it was much more crowded and loud though. He walked up to the counter with a smile.

"Hi Waffle Cone!" the unicorn leaned over the counter and smiled.

"Hey Whirly! What are you doing here so early?"

"I need an everything breakfast special to go. Laughter got eaten this morning and she needs food." Whirly said. Waffle laughed.

"Okay." she turned to the kitchen "hey dad, we need an everything B special on fly!"

"You got it!" Hot Potato cried before he started throwing the various fixing onto the griddle. Another stallion walked out of the kitchen and smiled.

"Well good morning Whirlwind."

"Morning Mr. Allspice" Whirly said with a smile.

"Has my daughter been doing her job?"

"Yes sir!" Whirly said as he saluted. The unicorn stallion chuckled.

"At ease. Keep me up to date." Allspice said before he headed into another part of the restaurant.

"Order up!" Hot Potato called putting the to go tray full of breakfast on the waitress rack.

"Thanks dad! Here ya go Whirly." Waffle said handing him the food.

"Thanks Waffle… oh! Candy told me to remind you about the party tonight!" Whirly said. Waffle smiled.

"Oh I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me Whirly. Have a nice day!" she cried.

"You too!" Whirly finished before he whipped out the door. He flew high above the town at a much slower pace, careful not to drop his precious packages. He landed on the front porch of the tree house and pushed the door open with his nose, flying in. "Laughter!" the blue mare popped up from the other side of the counter.

"Yyyeeeeeesssss?" suddenly she gasped loudly "is that an everything breakfast special from everything diner?!"

"Dig in." Whirly said with a laugh.

"Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh!" she leaned over the counter and pulled him into a super tight hug. "You're the greatest friend EVER!"

"Laughter… I need to breath" Whirly gasped out.

"Oh! Right!" she let go then picked up the to-go tray and took a huge bit, take out tray and all.

"You know you're supposed to take the food out of the tray right?" Whirly asked.

"But the tray tastes so good!" Laughter argued before taking another bite. Suddenly the someone banged on the door of the tree house

"Come quick! There are giant monsters attacking Ponyville!" a stallion cried in alarm.

"ELEMENTS! Let's go!" Courage cried before she and Generosity and Laughter lept into action.

"WAIT!" Whirly cried before he shoved the rest of his cupcake into his mouth and ran after them

"Whoa there." Courage cried as she held Whirly back. "Stay here."

"What?! But I want to help!" Whirly whined.

"Whirly please, just stay where it's safe." Courage begged. Whirly pouted but then turned around and went back to the tree. He sat in the house and stewed for a bit as he listened to the sounds in the town. He heard a few explosions and screams before he couldn't take it anymore and bolted out the door. The town was in chaos and Whirly whipped around in the thick of it all. At last he found the Elements of Harmony battling what appeared to be a giant mutant ferret.

"GUYS!" Whirly cried as the trio were thrown backwards.

"Whirly?! What are you doing here?!" Generosity cried in horror, the ferret looked at him and snarled. Whirly squeaked and dashed to the side. The ferret started following him so Whirly started dashing around back and forth and in spirals and up and down until the ferret dizzily started wobbling until at last it fell over and disappeared in a poof of smoke. Whirly landed with a grin and turned around and froze. Another ferret had the elements cornered. It lifted up a paw to swipe at them but as it fell it struck not the cowering elements but a pink glowing shield. The shield rang like a gong and the world seemed to freeze for a few seconds before the ferret disappeared into a puff of smoke. Whirly meanwhile was staring at the shield in front of him wide-eyed.

"Mom…" Whirly said quietly. After that the shield flickered out and whirly shook his head to refocus and turned to the elements. "Are you okay?" there was a few seconds of silence before Courage stood.

"I told you to stay in the treehouse…" she said. Whirly's ears fell and he looked down sadly." but I'm glad you left." Courage finished with a smile before the other two came and gave Whirly a big hug.

"That was the most reckless, brave, irresponsible, oh I'm just glad you're safe!" Generosity blurted out all at once.

"We would have been ferret meat if you hadn't come along!" Laughter said.

"We better take him with us more often." Courage said nonchalantly. Whirly froze and looked up at Courage with sparkly eyes. The pink four winged pegasus winked.


	2. Chapter 2: Magic's Legacy

Whirly poked his head up over the counter and watched as Courage tapped a hoof up to her mouth in thought before Generosity brought over another bag.  
"We have everything darling, stop your worrying." The unicorn huffed before using magic to tie the drawstring into a neat bow. Laughter bounded over the bags with a smile.

"Yeah Courage, don't be such a worry wart!" Laughter cried before poking a stoic Courage in the nose.

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared." She insisted. Whirly could stand it no longer. He jumped up with his front hooves on the counter with, what he thought was, an innocent smile. In reality his smile was horribly forced and showed curiosity in neon from a mile away.

"Where are you guys going?" He asked. The trio exchanged looks before Courage put one of the saddlebags on her bag.

"We're just checking on some old ruins, making sure that ponies are staying away from them, we'll be back in a jiff." She insisted as she headed for the large warping rune in the center of the room.

"Can I come?" Whirly asked hopefully. Generosity bit her lip.

"Oh Whirly… it could be dangerous darling…" She turned away and levitated another saddlebag onto her back. "Maybe it's best you-" Generosity began.

"Sure." Courage interrupted bluntly.

"Wha- Courage!" Generosity admonished.

"I couldn't help it… just look at that face…" Courage admitted. Generosity turned back and paled. Whirly had the biggest, rounded, saddest puppy dog face on. Generosity couldn't bare to look at it and turned away. After a few seconds she sighed.

"Alright… let's go then… but stay close Whirly, your gem is still unstable after all…" Generosity reminded. Whirly wasn't paying attention however; he just hopped onto the warp rune and stuck out his tongue and squeezed his eye shut. After a few seconds he opened one eye then stood up and frowned.

"Did I break it?" he asked. Courage chuckled and picked him up.

"Watch, and hold on." Courage said. Whirly watched in awe as Generosity lit up her gem then swept that arm to the side in a swirl of purple the four of them were engulfed. Thirty seconds later the magic unfurled. They were standing in a great open field that seemed to stretch for hours amongst the field were great crystalline outcroppings that caught the sun and created beautiful rainbows upon the ground.

"Cool!" Whirly cried before zipping out of Courage and jumping through the grass happily.

"Whirly!" Generosity cried out in panic

"STOOOOOPPPP!" Laughter screamed in fright. Whirly skidded to a halt and gaped. He stood upon a great rift in the land, in stretched out for miles and miles on each side and forwards Whirly had to lean forward and squint to the see the other side. In the abyss there was nothing but black and ominous mist that swirled around in strange shapes.

"What… what is this place?" Whirly asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"This field was the sight of a great battle… in the War of the Elements." Courage said landing beside him.

"You mean the one that Mom fought in?" Whirly asked. Courage nodded gravely.

"Your mother was the leader of the Elements of Harmony. She fought to protect all of Equestria…" Courage sat down and sighed before looking skywards "The Elements used to be powerful artifacts, gems that held the essence of all that was good in this world… But when the war began many sought to steal them away and use them to destroy Equestria. The princesses of Equestria was desperate. They knew that there was no way Equestria could survive the war the way things were…"

"So then what happened?" Whirly asked gravely.

"They changed the players." Courage said gravely. "The bearers of the Elements absorbed them into themselves… they stopped being ponies, and became the Elements." Courage said. "Your mother was the strongest of them all. She was a princess too and bore the strongest of the Elements… she was the one that made this chasm." Courage admitted. Whirly paled and looked into it again.

"Why?" he asked after a long while.

"The boar folk that live on the other side attempted to kill one of the princesses. Your mother was so furious she created this great divide." Courage explained. Whirly looked across the divide again and turned back to the fields.

"It's sad that such a beautiful place has such a bad past…" Whirly said with a bowed head. Generosity walked up to his side and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

"Your mother may have done some things in the war that she wasn't proud but there is one thing I'm definitely sure she was proud of." Generosity said with a smile.

"What's that?" Whirly asked wearily. Generosity smiled down at him.

"You." she said. Whirly's eyes lit up and a brilliant smile returned to his face. He leaned over and hugged Generosity tightly.

"Thanks Generosity." he said quietly. Generosity looked down at him every so slightly sad.

"You're very welcome Whirly."

"Oh by the way TAG YOU'RE IT!" He cried before whipped off into the tall grass.

"What?!" Generosity yelp

"AHHHH!" Laughter cried before dashing after him.

"Come on Generosity. You're it…" Courage laughed from above before following the colt and mare making sure to stay low, just to be fair.

"Why you, GET BACK HERE WHIRLWIND!" Generosity cried before running after them.

* * *

Generosity stood on the canopy balcony above the treehouse proper and sighed. Courage climbed up the ladder after her and stood beside her silent.  
"Was it a good idea telling him all of that… don't you think he's a little young?" Generosity worried. Courage remained emotionless.

"He's not a foal anymore Generosity, sooner or later he's going to grow up." she said stoically. Generosity sighed and looked at her hopelessly.

"Can't he stay our sweet innocent little Whirly just a teensy tiny bit longer?" Generosity begged.

"We can't protect him forever Generosity… sooner or later he'll have to fight… but he'll know what he's going into when we have a repeat of the first war." Courage argued putting a hoof to the gem embedded in her face where her left eye should have been. Generosity sighed heavily.

"I know you're right of course… oh why did it have to be this way" she moaned.

"Only Magic could answer that." Courage said in a barely audible voice before descending back into the treehouse proper. Generosity was left visibly stiffened steadfastly ignoring the single tear trailing down her face. She stayed there until the sunrise when she put on a brave face and woke Whirly with a smile knowing one day the smile might not be enough to lift her little Whirlwind's spirits.


	3. Chapter 3: Raspberry Summer

Generosity was finishing the final touches on the finally replaced couch when suddenly Whirly whipped by blowing everything over

"Oh! Whirly! Slow down!" she cried in irritation.

"Can't talk! She might be gone already!" Whirly cried before he whipped out the door. He flew into town then slowed to a stop and hid in some bushes. He was watching a young red unicorn that was reading a book on a bench in a park at the forest's edge. He looked at her for a few seconds.

"Hello Whirly." Courage said behind him.

"ACK!" Whirly yelped in fright before turning around. "Oh Courage… it's just you…"

"Why are you staring at that filly?" Courage asked. Whirly wrung his hooves nervously.

"Well… I was gonna go talk to her… but I don't really know what to say…" Whirly admitted.

"Well you better do it quick, she's walking away." Courage said quietly.

"What?!" Whirly turned around. Indeed the young filly was walking away. "Wait!" Whirly cried before he flew at her.

"Whirly!" Courage cried out in alarm. Unfortunately she wasn't able to stop him in time and he bowled the filly over. The pair rolled over a hill and eventually rolled down a steep hill and over a cliff and launched high into the air. The filly screamed as they were falling and instinctively Whirly pulled her close. Suddenly his gem glowed brightly and in a swirl of magic the pair were encased in a bubble. It landed deep in the forest with marble like sound. The pair were quiet for a few seconds before Whirly stood.

"Uh… hi… my name is Whirlwind… but everyone calls me Whirly." the pegasus said with a slight blush.

"Raspberry Dreams." the unicorn said before she looked around. "Did… did you do this?"

"Yeah. I have this gem and it gives me powers… because my mom was Magic. she could do all sorts of things." Whirly said before tapped the bubbles sides. It made a sound as though it was made of glass. "huh…"

"Has your gem ever done this before?" Raspberry asked starting to get worried.

"No, this is new… we should probably try and find some way to break it" Whirly commented.

"Yeah." Raspberry agreed before they both started pushing the marble-like ball through the forest.

"Sooooooo." Whirly started "I don't see you around a lot…"

"That's because I'm usually inside studying… I'm very conscientious of my grades." Raspberry said slightly haughty.

"Oh… I've never been to school before." Whirly admitted. Raspberry paused.

"You've never been to school? You must have very many friends then…" Rasberry said with the slightest of a hopeful tinge.

"Oh I have lost of friends! Laughter, Courage, Generosity, Cherry Bomb and Candy Star, Waffle Cone and Rainbow Sprinkles, Cheese Pizza, Cloud Waves, Locky, the Apple triplets… pretty much everyone in town really." Whirly said happily.

"Oh." Raspberry said a bit downtrodden. After a while Whirly stopped and looked around.

"Wow, we flew really far…" Whirly said quietly. Raspberry started to panic.

"Are you saying we're lost?!" she asked frantically

"N-no!" Whirly insisted. "I know where we are! We just… erm…" Whirly looked around and winced.

"We are lost! Oh this terrible! I'm gonna be stuck in a bubble for the rest of my life! How am I going to finish school at the top of my class?! How am I going to graduate high school with honors!? How am I going to move on to a prestigious culinary school and go on to become a world-renowned chef?! Well baker, but chef sounds more important." Raspberry lamented.

"Wait you're a baker? Can you make donuts?" Whirly asked with a wide smile.

"Erm… I'm more of a pastry chef, I'm not very good with fried desserts. Cakes and tarts are more my specialty… Though I did make some pretty impressive eclairs once." Rasberry said thinking back. Whirly smiled.

"You must be pretty popular with your friends. I bet you make the best birthday cakes." Whirly said liking his lips just thinking about them. Raspberry shrunk a bit and looked down at her hooves.

"I… don't have any friends." she murmured. Whirly stared at her shocked. Suddenly Raspberry looked up and started to shake.

"Erm… Whirly…" she said quietly. Whirly frowned and crocked his head to the side.

"What?" Whirly asked. Raspberry pointed behind him and he turned around. A huge mutant timber wolf was staring at the pair

"Run." Whirly said before the pair began rolling the ball as fast as their hooves would carry them. The wolf gave chase, snapping at them with its huge jaws. On their pair ran until suddenly they were backed into a corner. Raspberry began to cry quietly as Whirly shielded her behind him as the wolf crept up to them from the shadows of forest. "Hey." Whirly started

"What?" Raspberry hiccupped out.

"If we don't get out of this… I want you to know… I wanted to be your friend for a while. I saw you around and I wanted to talk to you but I didn't know how… I'm sorry for all of this… I should have just walked up and talked to you." Whirly said. The wolf swiped a claw at them and the bubble was scratched but repaired itself. Rasberry said nothing just stared at him amazed. The wolf swiped again and the bubble was taking longer to repair. Whirly gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and waited for the final blow. But instead of the final blow he expected instead he heard the muffled sounds of electricity buzzing through the air. He opened his eyes and smiled. Courage was fighting off the timber wolf. With a swipe of her spear the wolf was blown to smithereens and scattered around the forest. Just as suddenly as it was happened the bubble popped and the two foals landed on the ground.

"That was awesome!" Whirly said with a sparkly eyes.

"Come on. The wolf won't be in pieces for long." Courage said before she picked up Raspberry and together the pair flew above the forest. Raspberry held on but stared around in wonder. After a few minutes the trio landed outside the tree house.

"Whirly!" Generosity cried before rushing forwards and giving him a hug. After that she held him at arm's length to get a look at him. "Oh thank goodness I was so worried where have you been are you alright?" she blurted out all at once. Whirly spread his arms wide.

"I'm fine! See?" he cried. suddenly Raspberry was hugging him tightly.

"Thank you." she whispered before she let go and smiled. The pair smiled at eachother for a bit before Raspberry's eyes widened. "I'm late for class!" she rushed down the road towards Ponyville proper before she stopped and turned back. "Bye Whirly! I'll see you later!"

"Bye Raspberry!" Whirly waved back with a wide smile. Courage smiled down at him.

"So?" she asked.

"So what?" Whirly asked.

"Details?" she asked. Whirly smiled wide.

"Her name is Raspberry Dreams And she's wicked smart! She's training to become a famous baker but says chef cause it sound cooler! She makes awesome birthday cake and eclairs! She never tried making donuts before!" Whirly strated before he started going on and on. Courage chuckled and rubbed the gem on her arm absentmindedly.


	4. Chapter 4: Spike

Whirly pushes aside some more bushes and looked into the clearing "It's not here either!" he yelled to the others.

"Oh, I knew that cockatrice would get away!" Generosity huffed. "We should have double bubbled it." Courage landed beside her with a sigh.

"We know for next time." she said before she looked around "for now we need to find this one. Keep searching."

"We've searched almost everywhere!" Laughter whined from the tree branches.

"And we need to search more." Courage repeated. The blue earth pony huffed.

"Fine." Laughter said before went back into the branches. Whirly sighed himself and continued his search. The four of them searched late into the afternoon.

"Courage darling, I think it's gone. We've looked nearly everywhere." Generosity groaned before she sat on the ground tiredly "my hooves are aching."

"I'm completely pooped." Laughter confirmed from her nearly flattened position on the ground. Courage conceded.

"You're right. It was foolish of me to think it would stick around, lets-" Courage stopped and the other three froze as the bushes behind the pegasus mare rustled. The four all slid into defensive positions. The thing that popped out of the bushes was enough like a cockatrice that the three older elements charged forwards.

"Hoo." the creature said before it flew up into a branch and began preening its feathers.

"Wait!" Whirly suddenly cried as Courage prepared to fly after it. The three others turned to him.

"What Whirly?" Generosity asked before she looked back and realized the creature was no longer there. She looked around then froze.

"I don't think it's evil." Whirly argued. Then he noticed that the three were staring at him terrified. "What?"

"Whirly… don't move." Laughter said quietly. Whirly froze.

"Why?!" he asked in a panic.

"GOTCHA!" Courage suddenly cried from behind him and Whirly jumped around. The creature was now held in Courage's hooves. Courage stared at it with a wide eye for a few seconds before she landed and put it down. "You… I know you… or…" she noticed that everyone was staring at her. "It's not a cockatrice." she said in deadpan. The creature ruffled its feathers.

"Hoo."

"It sounds like an owl." Whirly commented. The owl thing suddenly turned to him and swept its purple bat wings to the side and flew into the air, its long spiked tail trailing behind it, before it landed on Whirly's head again.

"Uhh." Whirly said looking you a bit nervously.

"Oh get off him you!" Generosity cried before when to swat a hoof at the bird thing but it just hopped and dodged the appendage and landed once again and began preening Whirlys hair. The pegasus colt giggled a bit as the bird nibbles gently on his ear before it nestled into his mane fully.

"Hoo." it said peacefully before the small wing-like appendages on the side of its face drooped and its eyes closed. Courage flew forwards and very gently picked it up and placed it in a bush.

"Let's go, it's getting late and I don't want to be in the forest at night.

"But-" Whirly commented looking at the owl.

"It's obviously some kind of mutation Whirly, it might be dangerous." Generosity said with a saddened frown.

"But it so cute." Whirly paired. The three older gems rose an eyebrow.

"Are we looking at the same weird owl lizard hybrid?" Laughter asked.

"Dragon." Courage suddenly spoke. "Its a dragon… a dragon… I know a dragon… do I?" the four-winged pegasus turned around still deep in thought but she was able to dodge the various tree's she was flying towards

"Courage has gone bye-bye." Laughter remarked. Generosity sighed.

"We've been out all day, let's just go home" Generosity said before the trio followed the pegasus. They walked for a few minutes.

"I wonder why it liked Whirly so much?" Laughter commented hopping along beside the other three.

"That is pretty odd." Generosity agreed before she suddenly bumped into Courage. "Courage, whats…" she trailed off as the four stared ahead. The weird dragon owl was sitting in the middle of the path.

"Hoo." it called before it flew into the air and landed on Whirly's head again. The four started at it now a little freaked out.

"It's following us?" Generosity asked.

"Apparently." Courage said thoughtfully.

"That is a little creepy." Whirly reasoned before he picked up the owl and looking into its slit eyes. The bird ruffled its feathers a bit.

"Hoo! Hoo hoo!" it cried before it shook from the colt's hooves and started to hover and nuzzle at his gem. Suddenly it did a few loops before it hovered before him and suddenly shot a blast of green flames from its mouth. The elements all jumped back in shock but when the fire cleared there was a letter on old parchment tied with a pink ribbon and magic's seal. It fell into Whirly's hooves and the colt stared at it a second before he slowly untied the ribbon. The dragon owl was forgotten for a moment as everyone focused on the letter and so no one minded when it settled onto Whirlys head again. The colt took a deep breath as he opened the letter.

 _My dearest Whirlwind,_

 _Let me start by explaining just how much it pains me to write this. I know that you and I will never truly meet and I am so very sorry for that. But I want you to know that I love you more than you know. I also want you to live your life the way you want. You are something special Whirly, something unique. Something that has never happened before, and yet, in many ways you'll be just like all the other ponies. you'll experience new things, you'll learn, you'll grow, you'll see so many wonderful amazing things and be able to interpret them however you want. The best of both worlds. I know it might be a little scary at times and you might feel alone but know Whirly that I will always be with you, even if you can't see or feel me. We'll always be together. Never forget that._

 _With my love,_

 _Magic_

 _P.S._

 _Please take care of the other Elements for me Whirly_

 _P.P.S._

 _Oh,_ by _the way, this is Spike. I know he seems a little frightening but he is very dear to me I've known him for longer than I can remember. I hope you can find a place for him to stay. He's the best assistant this side of Appaloosa._

As Whirly reached the end of the letter he laughed a bit and wiped the tears out of his eyes. He looked up at the dragon owl.

"Hey, Spike… you can come stay with me if you want." Whirly said.

"Spike… I know that name.." Courage muttered again before she looked deeply into the owl's eyes. The owl stared back. After a while Courage blinked and frowned before flying away. Whirly looked after her before he was suddenly pulled into a tight watery hug by Generosity.

"Whirly we love you so much!" she cried out before sobbing loudly with tears streaming down her face. Whirly smiled a bit before he watched the dragon owl fly after Courage with a hoot. That night Whirly snuggled happily into his bed while the bird creature watched over him. Sometime in the night Generosity came and sat beside spike and looked at him.

"Did… did Magic leave anything for me?" she asked quietly so as to not wake Whirly. The bird did nothing but stare before he began to preen his feathers and scales. The unicorn sighed in disappointment before she walked away.

"Hoo." the bird suddenly said. Generosity looked back and the bird was holding what appeared to be a chunk of a bright red gem in its talons. It dropped it at her feet before it landed in front of her

"Hoo." spike said again. Generosity stared at it for a second before she realized with slight horror that it was covered in slobber. She barely held back a scream.


	5. Chapter 5: Two For One

Whirly pulled out another box and began to cough and choke as a huge cloud of dust caught up. Generosity huffed and made a noise of annoyance before she conjured a duster and began dusting.

"This place is just filthy!" she cried. Suddenly Laughter popped up in the middle of the pile.

"Aw come on Generosity it's not so bad!" Laughter said before she dived down again. Generosity huffed.

"Well you might be content to live in a sty but I am not Laughter." the unicorn said with ehr nose in the air.

"You're too uptight Generosity." Laughter said with a smirk. Generosity growled.

"I am not too uptight!" she argued.

"Enough!" Courage said as she stepped into the storage room. The three ponies turned to the pegasus. "We need to clear this place out. So stop bickering and keep sorting through these boxes. Be sure to pull from the top." Courage reminded before she pulled out a box.

Whirly opened the dusty box and coughed again before he realized it was a whole bunch of photo albums. He smiled and pulled them out before he opened them and smiled.

"Hey come check this out." he said. The three others stopped what they were doing and came over.

"Oh my goodness!" Generosity said as a smile grew on her face. "Ooh haven't seen these pictures in forever!" there were pages and pages of pictures of magic and the others. They were al performing various tasks. Whirly peered into the box curiously as the others poured over the various volumes. He frowned and pulled out a few spare photos that hadn't been put in the books yet and stared at one in particular. "Hey Generosity… did you used to have poofy hair?" Whirly asked. Generosity looked up form the book with a frown.

"No Whirly. My hair has always been perfectly quaffed." Generosity said haughty before she flipped her mane, hitting Laughter in the face. The blue earth pony gritted her teeth and growled before the three came over and Generosity groaned.

"Oh… Merriment." she said with disdain.

"Oh man! I haven't seen her in years!" Laughter said with a giggle.

"Who is she?" Whirly asked.

"Well you see Whirly… it's a bit difficult to explain really but… she's Laughter and myself." Whirly blinked at her in confusion. "Us elements have the ability to combined out essense together into a single being called a fusion. These fusions have their own identities and powers that are the combined powers of the two or three or sometimes more elements that make them up. As such they are very powerful." Generosity finished. Whirly stood up quickly.

"Can you fuse now?!" he asked with sparkly eyes. Generosity pursed her lips.

"Fusion is only to be used in a life or death situation Whirly." Generosity said. Suddenly an alarm sounded off. The four headed down into the main room. The door to the magic tree that the tree house encompassed was open and the tree itself was glowing a faint orange. As the four stepped forwards the tree showed a faint image of two flowers on two seperate hills.

"The sun and moon flowers have bloomed again!" Generosity cried in awe.

"Alright… remember we only get one shot at this every hundred years. I'll go collect the moon flower. I want you three to get the sunflower… don't screw up this time." Courage said looking at Generosity and Laughter sternly. "Whirly…" she beckoned the colt forward and he came closer "keep them together alright?" she said quietly. Whirly smiled and nodded before he went to the teleport rune with determined Generosity and a slightly bouncing Laughter " good luck" Courage said before the three disappeared and reappeared. Whirly looked around in awe.

"Where are we?" he asked looking out into the apparently endless body of water surrounding them.

"The temple of the sun. it's in the middle of celestia sea." Generosity stated.

"The sum bloom is aaaaaaaalllllll the way up there!" Laughter said happily pointing to the very top of the temple high above them. Whirly looked up.

"Whoa."

"Now stay close Whirly. These temples are magnets to the corruption creatures and those blooms will be even bigger beacons. Who knows what made this place its home… lets go." Generosity said before she walked forwards.

"Hey! Who said you were in charge?" Laughter asked in annoyance.

"Well I am the most mature person here." Generosity said looking back at her unimpressed.

"Riiiight." Laughter said before she started bouncing after her.

"So wait!" Whirly began chasing after them "when you fuse your hair gets all poofy, do you get super strong too? Can you shapeshift?"

"It's not me Whirly. Its Merriment. She is her own element. But yes, she can shapeshift." Generosity said indulgently.

"Is she taller? Like is she as tall as the two of you standing on each other's shoulders?"

"What? No. she the same size as a regular pony Whirly." Generosity said with a slight chuckle.

"So wait… does she use a cannon? Or a sword?" Whirly asked

"She's got a gun sword." Laughter said with a wide smile.

"Cool!" Whirly said with wide sparkly eyes. "Aw man… now I really wanna see!" Whirly cried before he flew in front of Generosity with a puppy dog face "please?! Please please please please please!" Whirly begged

"Stop it Whirly!" Generosity snapped. "Fusion is for life and death situations only!"

"But coummmphgmph." Laughter said before Generosity shover her hoof into the blue mare's mouth.

"And besides." she continued "Laughter and I haven't fused in years."

"Why not?" Whirly asked. Generosity growled a bit in exasperation.

"Because in order for a fusion to work the parties involved have to be in sync. And Laughter and I are just to different. I am refined, Laughter is… relaxed. I'm sophisticated and Laughter is simple." Generosity said looking very prim and proper. Laughter growled.

"Generosity is a snooty fun crusher and I actually know how to have fun." Laughter argued. Generosity gasped.

"Well at least I care about my personal hygiene! While you on the other hand roll around in filth all day and don't care about anything!" Generosity yelled.

"I care about things!" Laughter screamed back angrily.

"STOP!" Whirly shouted. The pair both stopped and looked at him. "Why do you two always argue?" he asked. The pair looked at one another before looking away. Generosity flipped her mane after a few seconds and continued up the mountain, Laughter sat on the step feeling sorry for herself for a few seconds before she took a deep breath and turned around perfectly fine again. Whirly watched her go worriedly before he chased after them. He galloped along and notice Generosity was stopped and skidded to halt. He winced at what he saw, parts of the stairs had eroded away leaving uneven crumbly patches of stair and plunge into the rocky ocean below.

"Whirly, fly across and wait for us." Generosity said. The pegasus nodded and flew across the gap easily.

"Me first!" Laughter cried

"Wait! Laughter!" Generosity cried. But it was too late. Laughter was already off easily easily hopping from rock to rock. Generosity growled before she carefully followed after her. She appeared to be getting along fine but as she landed on the last patch of stairs it shuddered and crumbled under her wait. Without a seconds thought Laughter leapt into action and dove after the falling unicorn. She grabbed her easily with one arm and materialized her cannon with the other. Just as they neared the rocks below Laughter fired her cannon. The two soared upwards but both knew it would not be enough.

"SWORD!" Laughter yelled and Generosity saw her train of thought. Right as they crested Generosity slammed her sword into the rock just below them as hard as she could. Still holding the sword with magic she waited as Laughter flipped her onto her back and put all four hooves on the blad before jumping as hard as she could. Generosity returned her sword and they soared up the rest of the cliff before Laughter landed behind Whirly with a surprisingly graceful flip. Generosity climbed off her back and sighed.

"Thank you my dear." Generosity said gratefully.

"Ahn, Don't mention it." Laughter said with a smile.

"That was amazing." Whirly said quietly. The pair looked at one another and blushed before Laughter lifted her hoof, indicating Generosity to lead. The unicorn smiled before doing just that. "Why don't you guys always do that?" Whirly asked Laughter curiously.

"Do what?" Laughter asked.

"Work together." Whirly said. Laughter just blinked at him before she looked ahead and saw Generosity looking at them gravely. As they finally arrived at the top the other two saw why. The dias on which the sun bloom was supposed to be was bare. The flower was gone.

"What do we do now?" Laughter asked glumly.

"We look around for it! It has to be here! Last I checked it didn't have legs." Generosity said in a panic before she began searching frantically. The other two joined in her search but it was in vain.

"Guys. I don't think it's-" whatever Whirly was about to say was cut off as suddenly a hug corrupt caterpillar crawled up to the top of the tower. The pegasus yelped and dashed under the cover of a fallen tree as the other two materialized their weapons. Laughter jumped forward and blasted it with her cannon. The creator made a noise as if annoyed and slammed Laughter away with his tail. The earth pony flew a few feet and landed with an oomph on the ground. Generosity was next. She brandished her sword and charged forward, she deftly dodged the caterpillars attacks before she finally attacked. The caterpillar caught the sword in its jaws and with it's might bite snapped the needle in two. Generosity stared in shock before she too was flung away.

"GUYS! MERRIMENT WOULD BE AWESOME NOW!" Whirly screamed from his hiding spot that was now being attacked by the angry bug. The two looked at reached before they both began dancing. Generosity began with a graceful twirl while Laughter spun with glee before she began bouncing around Generosity the unicorn tried to follow her actions but simply couldn't copy Laughter's hyperactivity. Their elements and form began to glow but after a few seconds all that they became where a pair of mares falling on top of each other.

"Laughter! Cease all your hopping and giggling!" Generosity yelled.

"Laughter is my element Generosity! I can't stop it! Lighten up!"

"GUYS!" Whirly screamed before the caterpillar finally broke his wooden safety and clutched him with its jaws. The other two looked up in horror before the caterpillar opened and closed its jaws.

"WHIRLY!" the two screamed.

* * *

Whirly landed with a thump. He looked around in confusion before noticed a slimy film on everything and he lifted a hoof. Strings of it stuck to his hoof .

"Ew!" he said before he stood up and shuddered "ew ew ew ew ew." he said with each step he took before he noticed a bright light in the darkness. He stepped forward and saw that it was a glowing golden orchid trapped in a glob of goo. Whirly went up to it and pulled it free from its sticky prison and smiled. Suddenly a huge sword penetrated the area where Whirly was. The young pegasus yelped a bit when suddenly the sword exploded, splitting the beast in two and dissipating it with a poof. Whirly quickly hovered before looking down. Below him stood a mare with a slightly poofy curly mane of light lilac. She was looking up at him with a gently smile holding a massive sword on her shoulder. The young colt floated down to her and stared a bit with a smile before his face fell a bit

"Uh… hi… do… do you know who I am?" he asked worriedly. The unicorn smiled and chuckled lightly

"Of course I know you Whirly, I've known you for your whole life." Merriment said with a chuckle. In the distance the loud cries of other caterpillar creatures echoed. Whirly shuddered a bit before Merriment scooped him onto her back "Hold on" she said calmly before she jumped forwards. She bound with a height and strength only Laughter could achieve but landed with the perfect grace Generosity possessed. In no time at all the pair landed near the teleportation rune. "I think this place has gotten a bit boring don't you Whirly?" she asked with with a grin and a wink.

"Definitely" Whirly agreed with with a smile before the pair disappeared in a lilac swirl. They appeared again in the living room of the tree house. Courage was covered in seaweed and had had a starfish stuck to her neck looking wet and annoyed, but the moon bloom was in a bubble beside her. When she saw Merriment and Whirly she smiled.

"Merriment. It's been awhile" she said with a smile.

"Right back at you Courage" Merriment said with with a smile

"Good work Whirly" Courage said to the colt. He beamed at bit. "so where's the sun bloom?" Merriment suddenly gasped and froze with wide eyes. She glowed bright white before she was blown apart.

"Laughter! You distracted me!" Generosity griped

"You were the one who wanted to show off all the jumping!" Laughter argued

"WAIT! Whirly cried before he lifted up the slightly sticky glowing orchid. The pair both stared at him shocked. "see! You don't need to fight all the time!" Courage just smiled.

"Excellent work Whirly… you'll be great at fusion someday." she said before she took the bloom and added it to the moon bloom's buble.

"Thanks Courage." Whirly said pridefully. "WAIT I CAN DO THAT TOO?!"


	6. Chapter 6: Whirling Dervish

Chapter 6

Whirling Dervish

Whirly was excited. More excited then he'd been in a long long while.

"Whirly! Please stop jumping around!" Generosity admonished. Whirly tried to relax but just couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry Generosity I'm just so excited! I can't believe I get to come with you guys!" Whirly said before he started whipping around kicking up a small tornado.

"Whirlwind!" Courage said as she grabbed Whirly tail and pulled him next to her. "Generosity is right. You need to be careful today. We're going to the Ghastly Gorge. It's dangerous. You need to stay close and do exactly as we say." Courage said gravely. Whirly nodded in understanding. "Alright. Laughter do you have the package?"

"Yep!" Laughter said lifting the brown parcel with the tip of her blue mane.

"Good. keep it close." Generosity said before she stepped onto the transportation rune. "Let's go." Whirly happily bounced onto it next to her as the other surrounded. In a swirl of purple the pair suddenly appeared in a deep dark gorge of granite. Whirly looked around amazed.

"Now… Whirly. You need to be very quiet… there is a species of eel that lives here that isn't very friendly…" Generosity said quietly. Whirly nodded not really paying attention.

"So what are we doing anyway?" Whirly asked flying a bit ahead.

"We have to deliver the package to the animals that live in a grove on the other side of the gorge." Laughter said hopping along beside him.

"Ooo! What kind of animals?" Whirly asked excitedly.

"Whirly!" Generosity hissed pulling him down. "Please keep your voice down!"

"Okay." Whirly said, his ears dropping. He walked beside the pair until they entered the center of the gorge. "WOAH!" Whirly cried in awe at the formations that rose up in fantastical pillars.

"WHIRLY!" Generosity cried in annoyance. Suddenly out of the gorge walls on either side of the them long black serpent like creatures burst out and growled evilly.

"Whoops." Whirly said quietly. The fight was vicious. Laughters cannon fired rapidly while Courageous spear crackled dangerously. Meanwhile, somehow, Generosity was managing to fight and berade Whirly at the same time.

"WHIRLY! WHEN WE TELL YOU TO BE QUIET YOU LISTEN!" the purple unicorn yelled angrily.

"I know! I'm sorry!" Whirly sobbed as he dodged various attacks in feats of acrobatics. "Next time I-"

"NEXT TIME?!" Generosity screamed flabber grasted turning to looked at him in shocked anger "NEXT TIME?!" she repeated. But she never got to end her thought. One of the serpents slammed its tail down on her. Whirly froze in horror as a purple cloud exploded from the creatures tail and with a light tinkling a Generosity's gem fell to the gorge floor. As the creature lifted its tail up to slam down on the element again Whirly snapped.

"NO!" he screamed before he dove for the gem and with a bright pink light the blinded all those in the vicinity his shield materialized and caused a shockwave. With a scream Whirly threw his shield at the creature. As it spun towards the creature it formed a six pointed star that ripped through the serpents neck. With that it exploded in a cloud of smoke. Then the shield flew back towards Whirly like a boomerang and he caught it on his arm. He stared down in shocked then grinned wide. "I didn't know it could do that?! This thing is so cool!" he said excitedly. Then he looked down and his shield disappeared as he picked up the small purple diamond that was Generosity as a few tears dripped out of his eye. Courage and Laughter meanwhile had dispatched the last of the serpents. they both looked grave.

"I had no idea corruption had traveled this far south…" Courage muttered quietly

"Do you think all the animals are safe?" Laughter asked worriedly. Courage fell silent as she noticed Whirly shaking form. She walked up to him worriedly.

"Whirly?" she asked worriedly. Whirly looked at her holding Generosity in his hooves gently. Courage groaned.

"She is going to give you such a scolding when she reforms." Courage said tiredly. Then she placed a hoof on Whirly's shoulder. "Lets go. We need to get home."

"What about the animals?" Laughter asked.

"I'll come back and check on them myself. Right now we need to get Whirly and Generosity home." Courage said. Laughter nodded and led the way back to the transport rune.

* * *

Whirly stared at Generosity's gem as it rested on the mares favourite silk pillow. It had been three days since 'the eel incident' as it had been come to be known and still Generosity had not reformed.

"This is an important lesson Whirly. Imagine if that had been a normal pony. At least you know that Generosity will come back." Courage reminded sternly.

"I know." Whirly said quietly. He just wanted Generosity to come back so her could apologize for all the trouble he caused her.

"Hey Whirly. That red filly is coming up the steps." Laughter said as she leaned over the back of the couch next to him.

"Raspberry!" Whirly said with a smile. As he reached the door his stopped. Maybe he was too dangerous to be around. Maybe he shouldn't-

"Hey gurl!" Laughter said letting Raspberry in. The filly giggled.

"Hey Laughter! Hi Courage… where's Generosity?"

"Ehn. she got herself poofed." Laughter said, showing off the purple gem on its pillow.

"Whoa? Can all elements do that?" Raspberry asked looking at the purple diamond curiously

"Yeah. We poof when we have too much stress on our bodies." Laughter said. "I poof all the time when I do stuff I'm not supposed to." Laughter admitted with a slight blush.

"Generosity didn't get herself poofed!" Whirly cried in horror. "I got her poofed! I was the one who didn't follow instructions! She would have been fine if it weren't for me!" Whirly cried before started sniffing and with a gust of wind flew into the sky.

"Whirly!" Raspberry cried running out of the house after him as he climbed higher and higher until he reached the cloud level. As he settled onto a cloud it slowly turned grey and dreary. He sat there crying and sniffing for several minutes before a gentle weight settled next to him.

"Hey kiddo." the male voice said with a grin.

"Dad!" Whirly cried happily looking up at the stallion. He was deep blue with a long blue mane tied back and a short matching beard. He smiled at his son.

"You feeling okay? Courage told me you were upset about Generosity and I came to find ya."

"How did you know where to look?" Whirly asked amazed.

"You're sitting on the only grey cloud for miles buddy." Rifftide said with a chuckle.

"Oh." Whirly said plainly before he stood up and wiped his eyes. "I just… it was my fault she got poofed. She told me to listen and be quiet but I was so excited to be taken on a mission that I wasn't doing those things."

"Well. now you know for next time just what's at stake."

"I don't think they'll be a next time. Generosity was really mad." Whirly said quietly hiding his face in his hooves as he lay back down.

"Uhn, if I know Generosity she'll have gotten over it by now…" Rifftide said. Then he paused as his eyes widened " probably." he amended quickly wincing a bit.

"Maybe I can make it up to her." Whirly thought.

"You know how you can do that?" Rifftide asked his son. The colt looked up at him questioningly. "Apologize. And prove to her that you can be responsible."

"You think that'll be enough?" Whirly asked quietly. Riff grinned.

"It was enough for me!" he said ruffling the colts hair before giving his son a nuzzled on the hair and another on his gem. "Now go get em! World's not gonna save itself after all!" he cried as Whirly quickly flew away blowing the cloud back a few feet. Rifftide smiled a bit. "Go get em son… we're proud of you." rifftide said as he looked up to the sky as the sun started to sink under the clouds.

* * *

It was in the middle of the fifth day that Generosity's gem started to quiver before it glowed and lifted into the air. It glowed bright white before from the gem Generosity's form sprouted. She landed with her ever-present grace and sighed. Whirly immediately noticed

"Your mane is spinning the other way." he said quietly.

"Yes! I thought a new look would be nice." she said with a grin quaffing her mane "How has everything be-" she began but was interrupted when Whirly latched to her side.

"I'm sorry! I promise from now on I'll be extra careful if I go on missions! I'll listen to everything you say and follow all your instructions!" Whirly sobbed into her coat. The mare smiled and sat and wrapped her hooves around him.

"Oh Whirly darling. Everything is fine. But I hope you now realize why listening is very important." Generosity said sternly looking into the colt's eyes.

"I totally do! I mean imagine if that were Dad?! Or Raspberry?!" Whirly said panicking slightly.

"Whirly. You're overreacting, why would ponies be on element missions?" Generosity asked.

"Oh… right." Whirly said suddenly feeling sheepish. After a few seconds he hugged her again. "I'm glad your back Generosity."

"So am I, Whirly." she said with a smile. "So am I."


	7. Chapter 7: Constant Diligence

Whirly and the other gems all stared into the doorway that appeared in the tree nervously.

"And it just appeared?" Generosity asked wearily.

"Well… Courage was talking about how the corruption creatures seem to be spreading and Laughter said she wished there were more Elements of Harmony and then my gem glowed and this door opened… but we haven't gone inside yet." Whirly confirmed

"Magic never told me about this place." Generosity said quietly.

"There's only one way to find out what's down there." Courage said before she materialized her spear and headed in first. Whirly grinned at Laughter and the pair followed.

"Oh! Wait for me!" Generosity cried as she brought out her sword and together the Elements of Harmony descended into the depths of the tree house. They came across a thin barrier that Whirly realized with a strat.

"It's a bubble… one of mom's." Whirly said quietly. He touched it and dematerialized. The Elements all went into attack positions. Then Generosity sighed when nothing happened.

"Whirly! Be careful. We don't know what's down here!" she reprimanded

"More bubbles." Whirly said quietly. The trio looked ahead and saw layer after layer of bubbles.

"Courage… I think we should turns back. Whatever is down there magic wanted to stay down there." Generosity said wearily

"Then why did Whirly's gem activate? Whatever is down there. Whirly needs to find it." Courage argued. With that she nodded to Whirly who nodded back and went up to the bubble and dissolved it. Deeper and deeper the four went until at last they arrived at a door. As Whirly stepped up to it the door showed a bright pink six pointed star as his gem glowed. It slowly opened on its own accord revealing a chamber lined with torches lit with blue flames. In the center of the room was a dias on which a small teal gem floated, confined in yet another bubble. It was shaped like a small crystal with a pair of thin butterfly wings.

"Is that… another element?" Whirly asked before he flew towards it curiously.

"Wait... is that?" laughter began in shock

"There's no way. Magic said she was destroyed." courage assured. Whirly couldn't contain his curiosity and reached out to touch the bubble.

"WHIRLY! WAIT!" Generosity cried in horror. But it was too late. The bubble popped and the gem glowed bright white before it reformed. The teal unicorn landed on the floor and was silent for a moment before she looked up and sneered.

"You Elements are always the same." she said quietly before, with a light of her horn three sharp looking blades of teal threw out from her back. She fired them at the elements of harmony. Generosity deflected two as the elements scattered. Courage brought her spear forwards with a crackle of electricity. The new element turned to her and her pupils shrunk in rage.

"NO!" she screamed before three more blades burst otu from her other side and flew towards the four winged mare. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE TOGETHER!" then she turned as Laughter fired her cannon. the six blades that were scattering around the room flew to the front of her and shielded her from the blast. She growled before the six separated into threes and flew to her shoulders looking like a pair of sharp-

"Wings… SHE CAN FLY?!" Whirly asked amazed. The mare notticed him and with a kick of her hind legs flew at him. He gasped and on instinct brought his arm to the cover his face. With a gong his shield blocked her attack and he pushed her away. She slid back on all fours and gritted her teeth.

"I knew it." all but one of the blades disappeared in a flash. "You couldn't resist could you magic." she looked at him with a hatred so strong Whirly almost faltered. "You'll never change… come on! face me like an Element! Sword on sword!"

"Wha?" Whirly asked in confusion. The mare looked displeased

"Fine… murder it is!" she cried before she flew at him again. Whirly yelped but her hit didn't land. Generosity, Laughter and Courage and shielded him from the attacks. Laughter poofed and Generosity and Courage fell to their knees. The mysterious mare pushed them aside and walked up to Whirly; looking furious. But as she stood there looking down at the shaking colt it finally kicked.

"You're… you're not Magic… where is Magic?"

"Heh heh… funny story… I'm her son." Whirly said quietly. The mare stared down at him then she formed her wings again and blasted off in silence. As she flew away Laughter reformed with a flash, cannon at the ready.

"I'm back! Where is she?! LET ME AT HER!" she cried. Then she gasped and help Whirly bring the other two elements to standing positions. Together the four slowly made their way back up to the house. It was a bit of a mess and the screen door was completely blown out. Generosity groaned at the mess before she slowly moved towards the couch.

"Of all the Elements Magic could have hidden in this secret basement it had to be Diligence. I could be Talent, who's useful, or Innocence, who would never hurt a fly. No, it had to be the only Element that hates us… ugh." Generosity said as she tiredly flopped onto it.

"Who was that? Why does she hate you guys so much?" Whirly asked worriedly. Courage sat on the floor leaning on the kitchen counter tiredly.

"That was Diligence. She is an Element of Defense. For a time, during the war of the elements, the rulers of the time feared that the elements of harmony would not be enough, so they tried to make six more elements, in case we wouldn't be enough, Talent, Innocence, Rhythm, Melody, Diligence, and Order… Order turned out to be a spy, who stole the spells for how to create an Element. They tried to make another new Element. But they are meant to be made in groups, not alone. The element they created was too powerful and when they tried to combine it with a pony it killed her. That pony was Diligence's lover. Diligence blamed Magic and the other leaders for her death and went on a rampage, killing friend and foe. Magic told us she'd been destroyed… but I guess she had other plans for The Renegade Element." Courage finished tiredly.

"And now she out in the world." Generosity said tiredly with a groan

"Well, we did want more help fighting the corruption." Laughter reasoned quietly.

"Laughter is right. It's not like she'll side with the corruption." Courage said as she finally stood up and put away her spear. "We've got one more fighter out there. She wouldn't attack ponies. Just the monsters."

"Well… that's good I guess… but I hope she's okay. I mean we were having trouble fighting them and we were in a group." Whirly said quietly.

"I think she'll be okay. I mean, she totally creamed us!" Laughter said with a laugh.

"We need to start training more. If we can be beaten by another Element when giving our all we're not strong enough. It's time we get serious." Courage said stomping her hoof. The other three nodded, thinking of the future, weary of what is possibly held.


End file.
